Grace’s Green Beans

Written by Jensen Pauley

One morning Grace was extremely bored in her room when a brilliant thought popped into her head. She wanted to make her favorite dish for her grandma because it was always their special tradition to make new meals for each other. Grace’s favorite dish was a warm green bean casserole. When preparing for their meals, Grace and her grandma always just bought their ingredients at the grocery store because it was quick and easy. However, Grace had a different idea for this meal; she was going to grow her own green beans so her grandma would have the best, most flavorful green bean casserole with fresh green beans.

Grace wanted her famous green bean casserole to be perfect for her grandma, but realized quickly that she had no idea how to grow green beans! Grace knew her dad had a garden in their backyard where he grew a variety of fruit and vegetables, so she decided to ask him for help. Grace found her dad cooking his breakfast in the kitchen and said, “Hi dad, this morning I had the most brilliant idea that for my next meal with grandma, I want to make her my favorite dish, green bean casserole.”

Grace’s dad looked at her with a big smile and said, “Great idea Grace! Do you need to go to the grocery store today and get your ingredients?”

Grace then replied, “Actually, I thought I would grow my own green beans to put into the casserole to make it special and refreshing but I need your help, I have no clue how to grow vegetables!”

Grace’s dad laughed and with a proud look on his face said, “Yes of course I will help you, you can grow your green beans in my garden. I want to let you know that it will take about two months for green beans to grow, so you will need to be patient and wait to cook your meal for grandma.”

Grace’s face lit up with happiness and replied, “Thank you, Dad, I promise I will be very patient. I was thinking of buying the rest of my ingredients for my casserole at the store when my green beans are ready. Do you think I will actually be able to grow green beans?”

Grace’s dad pulled up his phone and said, “I know you will. Let’s research green beans and see what is needed for them to grow and how to plant them.”

Grace and her dad spent some time researching green beans and how to properly take care of them in order for them to grow. Once they had done enough research, Grace and her dad decided to grow bush beans and made a trip to town and bought green bean seeds. Grace decided to plant bush green beans because she learned that they are less upkeep and are easier to grow.

Grace and her dad spent the afternoon planting her seeds in her dad’s garden and exactly following their research so that her green beans can grow properly. She planted the seeds in the soil a couple of inches down, then watered them.

In the next few weeks, Grace’s green beans began to grow and became fuller and taller. She continued to water them regularly and weed out around the bean plants. Her plants continued to grow, but Grace and her family went away on a surprise family trip for a week, so she asked her friend to check on her bean plants and continue to take care of them for her. Unfortunately, her friend had forgotten to check her plants all week. Grace returned home and found her bean plants looking droopy and lifeless. Grace was so shocked and upset! How did her bean plants go from being full of life to this? Grace ran up to her house to find her dad. In a hurried voice, she said, “Dad, come to the garden quickly! There is something wrong with my green bean plants!”

Grace’s dad immediately followed Grace to the garden and observed the bean plants. After a minute of observing, Grace’s dad said, “It looks like your bean plants need water, did your friend come and take care of your plants this past week?”

Grace replied, “I thought so, but maybe they forgot. I will have to ask.”

Her dad responded, “Well, I think you need to water your plants now, especially because it was warm out this past week and if they have not been watered, they must be extremely thirsty.

Grace followed her dad’s advice and watered and weeded all her bean plants.

After talking with her friend later that night, Grace learned that her friend did forget to come and check on her plants. Her dad was right, her bean plants were dying because they did not have any water that whole week and were not cared for. The next few weeks, Grace watered her plants and took extra care towards them. Her bean plants now were full of life and continuing to grow and grow. Soon enough, Grace had her first green beans ready to be picked! She was so happy and proud of herself.

After picking enough green beans and getting the rest of her ingredients at the store, it was time to make her famous green bean casserole. She spent all day cooking her casserole, and then finally it was ready to eat. Grace’s grandma came over to her house to eat dinner that night and Grace could not contain her excitement. When she showed her grandma her green bean casserole and explained how she grew her own green beans, her grandma was so proud of her and could not wait to try it. The whole family ate the entire casserole that night and enjoyed every bite. Grace went to bed that night with pride all over her face and her stomach full of green bean casserole.